The Triumphant Life of Theodore Roosevelt edited by J. Martin Miller

,10
THE ROUGH RIDERS
Just before leaving Tampa the Rough Riders had been
brigaded with the First (white) and the Tenth (colored)
Regular Cavalry under Brigadier-General Young, as the
Second Brigade. The First Brigade consisted of the Third
and Sixth (white) and the Ninth (colored) Regular Cavalry
under Brigadier-General Sumner. These two brigades were
under the command of General Joseph Wheeler, the cele-
brated Confederate leader.
ON CUBAN SOIL
After landing at Daiquiri, the Rough Riders marched about
a mile inland and camped. In the meantime General Law-
ton, who afterwards lost his life in the Philippines, had taken
the advance and established outposts, and General Wheeler,
who had made a reconnoissance and located the position of
the enemy, directed General Young to take the Second Bri-
gade and push forward.
The march began about the middle of the afternoon, and
about dark, after a weary tramp beneath a scorching tropical
sun, the troops arrived at the town of Siboney. At sunrise
the next morning, General Young, acting under General
Wheeler's orders, with four troops of the Tenth and four of
the First Cavalry, began the march along the valley road
which led to Santiago, while Colonel Wood led the Rough
Riders along a hill trail to the left, which joined the main road
about four miles farther on, at a point where it went over the
mountain.
THE BATTLE OF LA QUASSINA
This place, where the two trails met, was known as La
Quassina, and it was at this point that the Spanish had taken
up their position. The Spanish fortification consisted of
breastworks flanked by block-houses, and after General Young